ZIP 62963 vs ZIP 62996

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62963 (Mound City, IL) and ZIP 62996 (Villa Ridge, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62963 has a population of 611 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 62996 has 535 at 8 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 62963 reports a median household income of $54,531 against $56,122 in ZIP 62996, with per-capita income of $21,513 vs $28,148. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.7% in 62963 and 13.3% in 62996. Poverty rate reads 15.6% vs 44.6%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 0.0% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $52,900 in 62963 versus $92,100 in 62996, with median rent of $775 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 47.5% vs 83.8%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.